Chapter 4. (SHOCKING NEW NEIGHBOURS)

It is morning, and Sophie is still asleep when her mother arrives in the room to wake her up.

        "Sophie, wake up," Mom said as she entered Sophie's room. "Just because it's Sunday doesn't mean you should be sleeping till 11." She said as she slid the curtains.

         "Mmmmmm, I am awake." She said this in her sleep as she turned and snorted.

          "Wake up and help me with chores, and we need to prepare food for our new neighbors." Mom said. Sophie opens her eyes wide and sits up.

          "Did you say new neighbors?" Sophie asked excitedly. "Yes, new neighbors. Now come downstairs." Mom said this as she left her room.

          "Coming," Sophie said as she yawned and rubbed her eyes.

             Sophie went to the bathroom and cleaned herself up. She headed downstairs and saw her mom in the kitchen; her dad was on the phone, and James was eating his breakfast. 

        "Yes, I am well aware. Well, of course, they can stay. But just until the evening?" Dad said this to the person on the phone. "OK then. Thank you, Mister Jake."

          "What is it, Dad?" Sophie asked. "It was about the new neighbors. They were supposed to stay at Mr. Jake's house, but unfortunately, something came up, so he asked if they could stay with us until the evening." Dad replied.

          "Why?" Sophie asked. "There is a leakage in the wall, so the owner of the house wants to repair it quickly so the neighbors can move in today.". 

           "Oh, ok. When are they arriving?" Sophie asked. "Any minute now," Dad said. "Who are the neighbors?" James asked as he came to the living room from the kitchen.

            "They are..." Dad was replying when they heard the truck horn. "Well, they are here," Dad said and headed out, as did Mom.

               Sophie and James also followed; they all went to the house to welcome the new neighbors. As they got there, they saw a dark blue car parked in front of the house and a truck beside it. The car door then opened, and they came out of the car. Sophie stood there, shocked, as she saw who the neighbors were.

           "Miss Rose, Gia, and Nathan??????" Sophie thought, confused while having a surprised expression.

           "Oh, hello, Sophie, it's nice to see you again." Miss Rose said this while heading to their place.

        "Hello, Sophie." Gia greeted her with an expressionless face. "Hi," Sophie replied nervously. Sophie looked at Nathan, who was just looking at the house.

        "Welcome, Mrs. Clerk." Mrs. Agustin greeted Miss Rose.

         "MRS CLERK????? Is she Gia, Nathan's..." Sophie thought but was interrupted by Miss Rose. "How are you, Sophie? I hope you are ready for the trip. Miss Rose asked.

        "Oh, you are the geography teacher?" Mrs. Agustin asked.

          "Yes. And I must say she is a very brilliant student." Miss Rose is complimentary, Sophie.

"Thank you, Miss Rose." Sophie appreciated her nervously.

           "So, Mrs. Clerk, there are some things to settle in the house; till then, you come to our house." Mrs Agustin said. "Oh, so much appreciated, Mrs. Agustin." Miss Rose said.

            Sophie didn't know if to get worried or excited; she just followed Miss Rose and her mom inside their house and also escorted Gia and Nathan inside. Mr. Agustin went to their house and helped with the problem.

           "How was your trip?" Mrs. Agustin asked as she gave them water and juice. "Oh, it was okay. There was just so much traffic, but we were able to reach it in time." Miss Rose replied while having a glance over to Sophie.

           "So, Gia, and Nathan, how are you two?" Mrs. Agustin asked. "We're good, thank you." We're OK. I better go help Mr. Agustin with the stuff." Gia and Nathan replied, respectively. Nathan stood up and left to help Mr. Agustin.

          "Can I help?" James asked. As far as Sophie knew Nathan in school, he would say no, as he did things alone.

          "Sure," Nathan replied, expressionless, as he walked out of the house. "Whaaaaaaat?????" Sophie thought, shocked.

          "Sophie, why don't you take Gia and head up to your room and show her your stuff?" Mom said. "Yes, Mother. Come on, Gia." Sophie replied and took Gia to her room.

          "So this is my room," Sophie said as she opened the door of her room and opened the windows. "It's pretty," Gia said while looking at the room.

         "Please sit," Sophie said while pointing at the chair. Gia then sat on the chair as Sophie sat on her bed. There was silence for a moment, and then Sophie asked.

          "So Miss Rose or Mrs. Clerk is your..." "Mother?....Yes." Sophie was asking, but Gia replied instantly.

           "She said after finding a job, me and Nathan will also move there, and since she worked as a teacher in your school, we moved to this town," Gia added.

          "Oh, that's why you came as new students in our school." Sophie pointed this out. "Yes," Gia said.

        "And what about your dad?" Sophie asked. "He died when I was a baby and when my brother was an infant, so we don't know about him that much; after his death, Mom took care of us both," Gia replied, sadly.

          "Oh, I see. I am sorry about that." Sophie empathized. "It's okay." Gia replied, "So then you must know about our trip, which is in 3 days?" Sophie asked excitedly.

          "Yeah, I mean, my mom is the teacher." She said this while laughing a bit. "Oh yeah," Sophie said happily.

           They both then started laughing. Sophie then realized that they were not that bad; she could get to know Miss Rose in classes and Gia in school; it was only Nathan who would be hard to be friends with. But other than that, their visit was good, and the clerks went to their house next door. Sophie then went back to school the next day and told her friends about this.

          "WHAT???" All her friends say this in shock. "Well, yeah," Sophie said. "Wait, so Miss Rose is Gia and Nathan's mother?" Phil asked.

           "And your neighbors???" Brian added. Sophie sighs and replies, "Yes." "Wow, now that's surprising," Lucy said. "Alright, alright, let's get to our classes before we're late." Faith pointed it out.

         "Oh yeah, alright, so you guys later," Brian said. Lucy, Faith, Brian, and Phil headed to their classes while Sophie, Bella, Nick, and Miles were still there. Nick saw Bella in his thoughts again.

            "Bella, what is it this time?" Nick asked. "No, I mean. Come on, first there is a teacher, Miss Rose, then the trip. Second, some new students are her kids, and they are Sophie's neighbors. Something is just not right; don't you think that's suspicious???" Bella pointed out.

           "Mmmh." The three hummed in unison. "Come on, Bella, get the situation. I just told you what happened. It's the way the situation is; that's why it looks suspicious." Sophie implied.

          "Yeah, Sophie is right. I mean, that is what I also thought when I first met Nick." Miles said. "WHAT???" Nick said, surprised.

          "Just kidding," Miles said with a little smile. "Don't worry, since they are my neighbors, I will keep an eye on them, and if there is anything fishy, you will be the first person to know. Ok?" Sophie assured Bella.

           Bella sighed deeply and said, smiling, "Alright."Well, then, since that's over, let's get to our classes; they are about to start." Nick pointed it out.

           After the conversation, they went to their classes. After the day has ended, the gang meets up again before going home. "Man, now I'm getting nervous about the trip," Phil said he was worried.

          "Why?" Brian asked. "I don't know," Phil replied. "Don't worry, Phil; it's just stress; it will be fine." Faith-assured Phil.

           "I hope you all have paid for the trip," Bella asked. "Yep." Everyone replied. "Alright, then put it in," Sophie said as she put her hand in the middle. Everyone followed.

          "Go....." Sophie said. ".....DREAM TEAM!!!!!" Everyone joined together.

           They laughed briefly before heading home. Sophie knew there were things in life that come across, but you can overcome them by solving them, and she was happy. But little did she know that her life was about to change.